John Abdallah Wambere was a openly gay activist in Uganda. After one of his colleagues was bludgeoned to death with a hammer, Wambere's life was threatened. This week he sought political asylum in the United States.

If you've ever wanted to own a London Tube station, you may have just missed your opportunity. The UK Ministry of Defense recently sold a station its held since World War II — for a whopping $89 million. A few hundred miles to the north of that station, in Scotland, the country's politicians have decided to open their doors to Uganda's gay people who may be seeking asylum. Those stories and more in today's Global Scan.

The old line "monkey see, monkey do" isn't entirely accurate: chimps and apes in the wild have rarely been observed passing new behaviors from one to the other. But recently, for the first time, a researcher caught on film a group of chimps doing exactly that.

Technically, it's been illegal to be gay in Nigeria since the country's independence from Britain in 1960. But the wording was vague and the law was hard to enforce. Now a new law just signed by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan creates an effective dragnet with the ability to arrest any Nigerian who is gay or who supports or advocates on any issues related to homosexuality.

The United States has long made deals with foreign leaders out of expediency — and not shared values. But some of its allies in Africa are drawing increasing questions about what sort of governments the US is supporting. Meanwhile, British researchers are putting mummies through a CT scanner, and making surprising discoveries. That and more in today's Global Scan.

North Korea is about to have another election. And though the winners are not in doubt, government leaders still want a huge turnout, so they are turning to poems exhorting people to vote. Plus, at the NSA, even the spies are fed up ... with being spied on. All that and more, in today's Global Scan.

Updated

01/20/2014 - 2:45pm

China's notorious air pollution makes this photo of a digitally-presented sunrise in an ad seem very eerie. Uganda's president is reconsidering a widely-criticized anti-gay law that the country's parliament passed last month. And India's Olympic team just got the nod to head to Sochi, but can't represent the country. All that and more, in this special weekend edition of the Global Scan.

Turkey's been embroiled in protests in recent months, with the country moving from crisis to crisis. The current crisis — over Internet freedom — has protesters targeting their president's Twitter followers. Meanwhile, in China, the government is saying no to low-quality recyclables. And Greece finally has a budget surplus — for the first time in almost 70 years. That and more in today's Global Scan.